SAG Awards Surprises and Snubs: Big Love for Big Bang, But None for Mad Men

Wednesday

Dec 11, 2013 at 11:55 AM

Wednesday's Screen Actors Guild nominations were out with the old, but not totally in with the new. Former awards darlingMad Menwas nowhere to be found, while fresh faces came in the form of usual suspects at other awards shows. Check ...

TV Guide

Wednesday's Screen Actors Guild nominations were out with the old, but not totally in with the new. Former awards darling Mad Men was nowhere to be found, while fresh faces came in the form of usual suspects at other awards shows. Check out our surprises and snubs below, and then tell us yours.Breaking Bad, Big Bang top SAG Awards nominations

SURPRISESArrested Development: After a poor showing at the Emmys, Arrested did about as well it could do with the SAGs, snagging comedy ensemble and actor (Jason Bateman) nods. (It received the same nominations for its second season nine years ago.) The Netflix revival might have been underwhelming and divisive, and has since been overshadowed by both Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards in terms of buzz and awards prowess, respectively, but remember that the SAGs reward acting. And you can't deny that the cast was solid as Iraq. Anna Gunn: SAG was slow getting onboard the Breaking Bad train - it didn't contend until 2010 and Bryan Cranston waved the flag as the show's sole nominee until 2012 when the drama earned its first ensemble nod - but it's fully a member of the zeitgeist now after handing Gunn a nod. What's most impressive about Gunn's breakthrough nomination is that the SAGs don't have supporting TV categories, where she would've competed and where she won the Emmy.Mayim Bialik: Just two years after first nominating the Big Bang Theory ensemble and a year after Jim Parsons' first nod, the SAGs give Parsons' on-screen other half a well-deserved nod. And Bialik, a two-time Emmy nominee, didn't have it easy getting in: She made the cut over SAG favorite Betty White, perennial nominee Sofia Vergara and perennial awards bridesmaid Amy Poehler. Might this forebode a big award win for TV's biggest comedy?Game of Thrones gets back in the game: It's one thing to rebound, but it's another to rebound and improve. The HBO drama was dropped last year from the ensemble lineup after one nomination, and has not only found its way back in, but Peter Dinklage also earned a nomination over former nominees Jon Hamm and Damian Lewis, and fellow supporting star Aaron Paul. 25 totally unnecessary spin-offsSNUBSMad Men: How the mighty have fallen. Following two wins out of five drama ensemble nominations and five nods for Jon Hamm, the former awards heavyweight got a big fat goose egg Wednesday. The shutout comes three months after Mad Men was blanked at the Emmys (0-12) for the second year in a row and a week after it was snubbed by the Producers Guild Awards for the first time. The good news: It has two more chances to get back in SAG's good graces.Girls: While Veep and its leading lady Julia Louis-Dreyfus entered the SAG races for the first time, HBO still can't get its other critically acclaimed female-fronted series and its mastermind, Lena Dunham, invited to the party. Perhaps adding more insult to injury: The departed 30 Rock and its stars, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, scored nods despite ending way back in January with only five episodes airing during the calendar year. (SAG has a six-episode minimum eligibility rule, but that doesn't apply for final seasons.)The Good Wife: Despite its strongest season in years, the CBS drama couldn't return to the ensemble race, which is populated once again by cable shows. Not only that, but Julianna Margulies, who's currently tied with Baldwin as SAG's winningest performer with eight trophies apiece, was dropped from the actress race. But maybe we ought to have seen it coming after she was shockingly left off the Emmy ballot too.Freshmen shows: Outside of the expected nomination for House of Cards' Kevin Spacey, freshmen series did not have a good showing at all. Critical darling Orange Is the New Black was MIA, and SAG - which is usually shameless in nominating veteran stars and Hollywood royalty in both the TV and film races - resisted the urge to, say, hand Robin Williams (The Crazy Ones) a nod for his TV return. Ultimately, the newbie snubs aren't too surprising. SAG voters - actors voting for their peers/friends - are creatures of habit, and when they like something, they really like it (see: Boardwalk Empire's success, Baldwin going for an eight-peat). More than any other awards body, they play catch-up the most, often nominating shows and performers later into series' runs.What were you most surprised by? Who do you wish had been nominated?

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